Just to name a few. if you collect other vintage figures than just Star Wars, check out www.action-figures.ca, the loose vintage action figure guide including a message board to discuss, buy, sell & trade vintage figures of all lines.

I had a HUGE M.A.S.K. collection as a kid. Still in the attic. I loved that series aside from the fact that no figure could hold a gun (nor did any come with weapons). That was an innovative toyline though.

My "most obscure and unfortunately overlooked" toy award goes to a line I collected for a long time called StarCom. Without a doubt it was one of the most innovative toys of the 1980's, the play value was outstanding and the toys were insanely complex in design and construction, even compared to the stuff we see these days.

The line's last items, mostly European-only releases, are incredibly tough to come by. Select U.S./Canada items are toughies too, or are tough to get in good shape, but the line's just outstanding and it even had a great cartoon that accompanied it. Very realistic, very expansive for its short run... Had me hooked, however I'm to the point I'd probably sell my collection if I found the right buyer just so that I could free up room around here.

I had adventure people too, hand-me-downs from my older brothers. Their vehicles made good GIJoe additions generally and the figures I often used as the scientists/civilians that were in just about every episode of GI Joe's cartoon. Cobra had to kidnap somebody.

I don't know that I really "collect" that many anymore, outside of picking up vintage Star Wars figures now and then. I did/do like the Super Powers and Secret Wars lines, and I still watch those on ebay now and then. I'd like to find a nice, loose/complete Super Powers Superman, but the ones on ebay seem to get sort of high. I never got one as a kid, and its a figure I've always wanted. Otherwise, back on topic, here's the 80s toy lines that I had/played with growing up:

Earlier this year I repurchased all the G1 Transformers from 1984-1986 and a few from 1987.

One of my favorite toys was the MASK Rhino and I got a new one late last year. That's it so far but I imagine I'll start buying those soon enough.

I collected a lot of vintage Star Wars toys in the early to mid 1990s but now I only buy some stuff occasionally. I picked up a nice Death Star playset at the GI Joe Convention back in June.

Now, GI Joe is taking up just about all of my collecting time. Last year, the TRU Cobra Infantry set and the comic 3-packs really got me hooked on the RAH figures once again. So I repurchased all the 1982-1986 toys I had as a kid and then expanded to everything else including 1987-1998.

Happened to find this site today, which contains a lot of information about past toys, TV shows, games, etc. The link posted here takes you to a page containing 80s toy commercials, and there are sections for the 70s and 90s as well. I haven't had a chance to try the videos to see if they work, but there are a lot of Star Wars, Transformers, GI Joe, etc. commercials, and thought they might be fun to watch again. If interested, clicky above.

I thought about getting into collecting GI Joe, but my wife says I need to pick one hobby and stay with it. So I'm staying with Star Wars. I may try to pick up a Flint or Dusty figure at some point.

Collecting both Star Wars and G.I. Joe will leave you poor My goal used to be to get one of every Joe 3 3/4 figure, but there are just too many Joes for a poor college student like me to get at this time.